


look for me among the stars

by Phoenix7



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Childhood Friends, Developing Friendships, Dreams and Nightmares, Friendship, Gen, Nightmares, Psychic Abilities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 12:18:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15509709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix7/pseuds/Phoenix7
Summary: it's harder to treasure the present when you know the future. but if you only follow the stars, one day everything will be alrightOne-shot.Ties in to my "Meet Me on the Battlefield" series.





	look for me among the stars

She used to like her abilities. The moments, for example, when she knew who would knock at her door in exactly five minutes so that she’d have time to levitate right in front of them as they entered. When she could predict which ice-cream flavour would be most popular, and advise the stall-owner to stock up on it. When he realised that that extra tub of chocolate ice-cream would indeed come in handy and looked around in amazement for the little purple-haired girl who had told him, she’d be gone. But more likely, she’d just be giggling to herself from a hiding spot nearby.

Her relationship with the future soured when it started visiting her in her dreams. It was nothing much, at first. A dark, small room, that even the blue glow around her body couldn’t light up. Nothing would happen there, only an endless stretch of silence, but she would feel the weight of dread crushing her chest and constricting her throat, and would wake suddenly, gasping for air. She wouldn't remember the other voices in the dream that had spoken to her, nor what they were saying.

When she found the pair of Espurr, the dreams went away for a while. She would faintly register them moving around at night, but she never saw the blue glow from their bodies as they hovered over her, grasping each other’s paws, their eyes closed in concentration. But she only found out that they were protecting her years later, as her power grew too much for them to handle.

It was a different dream, that night. She couldn’t see much - her eyes found a pair of cold, empty eyes that sent chills down her spine. The man’s cheeks were as hollow as his expression, and his skin was a sickly pale, as though he had not seen sunlight for a long time. And maybe he hadn’t because all around her, it was night. Something felt off about the scene, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

Until he flicked the purple capsule in his hand, carelessly, off what she realised was a building. A monster materialised from it, floating eerily over whatever was below. It would have been cute in any other circumstances, what with its small body and huge eyes, but it turned around, and in its eyes was… nothing. No emotion at all, just like the man who had released it. She could sense the creature’s power, but she could also sense its defeat. The man opened his mouth to say something, but immediately after that, a glittering ball of pure pink energy missed him by inches and hit her full-on in the face. She felt herself falling, falling even though it was not real.

She found herself watching a familiar scene - it looked like the main street of the city she called home. She could feel immense power from one end of it. 

Her common sense was screaming at her not to go towards the power. She ignored it. It was just a dream, anyway. She couldn’t get hurt in a dream. Nothing in dreams were real. And she found a sight that haunted her even through adulthood.

There was a man there, a man with bright red hair that flared out around his face, like a Pyroar’s mane. He stood tall, and his whole attitude was one of self-assured dominance. His Pokemon, a round, gargantuan beast, was charging up a black ball of energy. She looked to her left. A woman faced him, one with long black hair that fell past her waist, and eyes filled with hatred. The air around her wavered as she moved, her eyes narrowed at both trainer and Pokemon. So, she was the source of the power that was tangible even from so far away. None of her Pokemon were out.

She almost screamed as the black beam of light engulfed the woman, and the man leered in satisfaction, turning to walk away -

When his Pokemon gave a cry as its own attack was directed back at it. The woman was responsible, it seemed, for she was surrounded by a bright blue glow that cast a dancing flicker on the destruction around her. Houses had collapsed, fire blazed strongly just a street away. The ground underneath her feet was burnt, and the paved streets had given way to piles of jagged debris. 

“You!” the man roared in frustration, his eyes now laced with fury.

“I hope you didn’t think I would be a pushover?” the woman replied coldly, and as she turned her gaze upon the man, he shuddered, and was silent. “I would never allow my Pokemon to be beaten up by your monsters, but do not assume that I cannot claim victory over them myself.”

“ATTACK!” the man yelled, once he had regained speech. And again, the beam was shot brutally back at the Pokemon, and deep red gashes began appearing at its sides. She watched, eyes wide in horror, as it took its own hits again, and again, until the woman finally stopped. The blue Pokemon fell to the ground, its eyes glazed over.

“Give up,” she said harshly. 

But the man only laughed. raising his head to look at a spot above her. The woman whirled around, only to be met with an attack to her stomach, from a bulky-looking blue-black bird. She got up, wincing, a dark stain spreading over her maroon clothing. But after a few seconds, the girl had to blink, and look again. The wound seemed to be closing itself. The woman didn’t even seem to be aware of it - she was watching as the man recalled his fallen Pokemon, and sadness clouded her eyes as its Pokeball slowly turned black.

“Espurr? Es? Purr?” The two Pokemon were climbing over her as her eyes flew open, and they stopped, watching her worriedly as she fumbled with her blankets. They looked completely exhausted, and when she finally managed to get herself a glass of water to calm down and returned to her room, they were curled up side by side, their grey chests rising and falling in tandem.

It was only well into adulthood when it occurred to her that they were protecting her from herself.

The dreams continued, some harmless, some terrifying. Countless nameless creatures visited her on turbulent nights, most causing destruction in their wake. Dead bodies, consuming flames, collapsed buildings - she would wake abruptly, in a cold sweat, her heartbeat fast and erratic. And for hours after that, she would lie awake, the images of what she had just seen flashing through her mind.

As time went on, and her powers began to become who she was, she began to push them away even more. Only her name remained, the last remnant of the child she’d once been. She shut her mind away, refused to have anything to do with the future, but she couldn’t let go of her name. Olympia - named after the mythical home of the gods in a children’s story. It felt right, somehow - and it was the only thing she could take with her on her dives into distant times. So now, she took it into her own future.

(She left the Espurr pair, too, because she knew they were much more powerful than they looked, and that she’d only be a burden.)

Her footfalls were always quiet, and no one really saw the purple-haired girl dressed in all black who blended in so well with the night that she’d become accustomed to. (Her eyes were a raging tornado of haunted dreams and broken promises, but she kept her eyes on the ground and no one saw them.)

Then one day, everything changed.

She couldn’t say where it happened, or how - for even if it had been written in both their futures, pleasant predictions didn’t swallow her in her dreams and leave her choking on air - they were usually so easily forgotten, slipping lightly through the fingers of her mind. 

The child was younger than her - or maybe she was simply short. The top of her dark blue head hardly reached Olympia’s shoulder, and her hair flowed down her back in two braids. She was sitting on a large, flat rock, and in her arms was a white Pokemon with accents of green and red. She barely turned when Olympia sat down next to her, flashing a bright smile before turning her attention back to the velvet night sky, humming a soft, lilting tune.

“Are you a trainer?” The words came out before she could stop them, and she flinched at her own rudeness. The girl, however, seemed unperturbed, her humming fading off quietly as she considered the question.

“The Pokemon Association says I am,” she replied blithely, her voice sweet and gentle. Her wide, pale blue eyes found Olympia’s more purple ones, and she giggled, a sound that wafted through the surrounding forest like how a Sweet Scent would. “But… I don’t think I am. Not yet, anyway. Maybe when Ralts and I get better. For now, we’re just travellers. What about you? Do you have Pokemon?”

Ralts, the small humanoid Pokemon, turned at the mention of its name and cooed happily, and for the slightest moment, the image of two Espurr flashed across her mind. She reeled back slightly, but quickly forced herself to recover. “I don’t have any Pokemon with me now, if that is what you’re asking.”

The girl hummed. “Are you from around here?” When Olympia shook her head in the negative, her eyes grew wide. “Aren’t you afraid of wild Pokemon? You must be quite brave!”

Olympia had never really thought about it. Most of the wild Pokemon were afraid of what she could do, and they tended to stay away. Even if the occasional Fletchinder or Scatterbug stopped by, they were usually only there for the food. The Espurr were the only ones who stayed, she reflected bitterly. And yet…

“Oh, I’m sorry! I completely forgot to tell you my name!” the girl was saying, grinning sheepishly. “I’m Diantha!”

“Olympia,” she said. “It has been a pleasure to meet you.” When she got up from the rock, Diantha started.

“You’re leaving so soon?” she pouted, dark blue locks of hair dripping down her forehead. “Don’t you want to see the stars?”

She’d never really wanted to see stars. She likes the night for its enveloping darkness, and the silence which only precious few dared to break. But she doesn’t tell Diantha this, shrugging and climbing back up. As they look up to the night sky, she has to admit that she has never before noticed how beautiful it was.

“What do you see in them?” she asked the other girl. Not because she felt indifferent towards them. Not anymore. Really, she wanted to know more about this girl who could disturb the night’s piercing stillness and somehow make it more beautiful with her laugh.

Diantha smiled, a different one from the bubbly smile she’d given earlier. This one was calmer, and felt like a ripple across a lake instead of waves rolling joyfully ashore. She thought for a while before answering in a quiet voice.

“I see - hope,” she finally said, watching as Ralts’ small arm moved to trace out the Lucarion constellation - a dynamic figure of the bipedal Pokemon holding a Bone Rush at its waist. “Because even though the sky is so dark, and even though hardly anyone else sees them, they continue to shine every night. Maybe I don’t remember all their names, but I will remember the soft glow that they cast, right here in this spot.” Her smile became wistful, and she hugged Ralts closer to her chest. “I want to be like them someday. I want to become strong, so that I can give hope to other people, and show them that maybe you  _ can _ follow your dreams.”

Ralts had found Ursa Major now, and Olympia’s curiosity had been piqued. Another memory had returned to her numb mind, of her declaring something to the Espurr. It seemed important, but she couldn’t remember what she’d said.

“What do you dream of?”

“I want to be a Pokemon trainer,” Diantha said firmly. “And not just any trainer - I want to be someone who can wear the title with pride, because I know I deserve to be called ‘trainer’.” She giggled softly, stroking Ralts’ head absent-mindedly. “Maybe I’ll even be Champion one day!” Then her face fell, and she let out a tiny sigh. “If only it were that easy,” she whispered to herself, turning away. 

Olympia didn’t say anything, but for the first time in a long time, she reached out with her mind, going not into the future, but into the past. Diantha’s memories were hazy, clouded with bottled-up feelings and words left unsaid, but out of the cacophony of voices that now filled her head, she heard three distinct sentences.

“What did we raise you for? To waste your life, going out catching Pokemon?  _ Useless _ ,” the strong, mellow voices of a man and woman melded together in perfect harmony, speaking in the same disparaging tone, and weaving in and out of each other until they faded completely.

“I’ll wait for you, always. You know where to find me - just follow the stars.” The next was a soothing voice, distinctly male, but still sweet - a boy reaching the final vestiges of childhood. There was something else too, a feeling she couldn’t quite place, which lumped into a bittersweet feeling in the pits of her stomach.

“I am not them. I will never be like them,” was the last voice, and immediately, she knew it was Diantha. But it sounded so unlike the gentle tones she’d heard - this was a bitter whisper filled with rage, a choked, tearful promise. She had a feeling that this promise was made to the stars.

And suddenly, the full force of her promise to the two Espurr hit her. She remembered it so clearly now that it was painful. “We’ll be right at the top of the world,” she’d said, confidence echoing in every word. “You and I - we can grow stronger than anyone has ever seen. I promise.”

There was a pause, and Diantha was staring at her with concern written in the furrow of her brows. “Are you okay?” Olympia nodded vaguely, but her mind was racing as the last sentence she’d uttered to them pounded against her temples.

“Will you join me?” It was a lifetime commitment for them, she knew. Once they were captured by a trainer, few circumstances would allow them to leave again. And yet, they had agreed with boundless enthusiasm, eyes gleaming in excitement. 

“Thank you. Shall we leave tomorrow?” She’d brought out a pair of Pokeballs, and they disappeared eagerly in flashes of red light. But that night, she’d left alone, the world spinning under her feet as she watched horrifying scenes unfold again and again. Tears had burned in her eyes as she ran, vowing never to have anything to do with herself again, until she’d finally collapsed, halfway through the route to the nearest city. In the back of her mind, she could hear the Espurr calling to her, confined helplessly within their Pokeballs, but she pushed their tiny voices down. The further she ran, the softer their cries became, until she finally wasn’t able to hear them anymore.

(It was a relief to feel her head stop pounding, but their complete absence was even harder to bear.)

She slid down from the rock once more, forming her face into a smile. “This time, I really must go. Farewell,” she said, before turning and walking silently away.   
Her feet turned themselves around after a few steps, though, and words poured out of her mouth without her deciding to say them.

“Diantha -” the pale blue eyes were fixed on her own once more, “thank you for tonight. I hope you achieve your dreams.” Her smile, this time, was a genuine one. “See you in the champion’s arena.” They locked stares for a few seconds, before Olympia turned, and let her feet carry her back toward the pair of Pokeballs that lay on her bedside table.

(They would never meet in the champion’s arena, but years later, when their eyes found each other once again, their gaze held the glow of a thousand stars.)

**Author's Note:**

> finally, something with a happy ending. the predictions may happen, they may not (they probably will) - time and space is complicated and should never be distorted.
> 
> A/N: The Lucarion constellation here is loosely based off Orion, so the stance of the Lucario would be quite similar - except it's holding a Bone Rush. Ursa Major and Ursa Minor exist because they are just Ursaring and Teddiursa :)


End file.
